Bottle-labeling machine.



PATENTED MAY 26, 1908.

G. A. HOFFMAN. BOTTLE LABELING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.11, 1906.

4 SHEETSSHEET 1.

P Ima mfow No. 888,894. T PATENTED MAY 26, 1908.

' G. A, HOFFMAN.

BOTTLE LABELING MACHINE.

APPLICATION IILBD AUG. 11, 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 PATE'NTED MAY 26, 1908.

e. A. HOFFMAN. BOTTLE LABELING MACHINE.

APPLJEOATION TILED AUG. 11, 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

No. 888,894. PATENTED MAY 26, 1908.

G. A. HOFFMANL BOTTLE LABELING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.11, 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented ner, reference being had to the accompanythe bottle; Fig. 9, is a detail perspective plying the label to the bottle.

mounted the standards a a supporting the slots in the carrier B by a set screw 12.

Fig. 12, is a detail perspective view of a por- GEORGE A. HOFFMAN, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR ToTwiL IAM F.

RUWELL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

BOTTLErLABELING MAOHIN E.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ma 26, 1.908.

' Application filed August -11, 1906. Serial'No. 330,258.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. HOFFMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing in certain Improvements in Bottle-LabelingMachines, of which the following is a specifica-. tion.

The obj eat of my invention is to construct a machine for placing the labels upon bottles in an accurate and rapid manner and which will be cbmparatively inex ensive to build.

This object I'attain in t 1e following inaning drawings, in which:

Figure 1, isa side view of my improved bottle labeling machine; Fig. 2, is a plan view Fig. 3, is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 33, Fig. 2 Fig. 4, is an end View; Fig 5, is a section on the line 55, Fig. 1; Fig. 6, is a detail perspective view of the carrier for the label; Figs. 7 and 8, are diagrams showing the method of placing the label on view of a modification of the means for lifting the labelholder; Fig. 10, is a side view of a modification where it is desired to paste the entire label Fig. 1 1, is an end View of Fig. 10;

tion of Fig. 11 Fig. 13, is a detail View showing a pair of label holders, one for the body label and the other for the neck label of the bottle; Fig. 14, is a perspective view of the' label carrier and wipers used when two labels are to be placed on a bottle; Fig. ,15, is a view of a modification of a detail showing the means of applying a diamond shaped label; Fig. 16, is a view of the means for applying a circular label; Fig.17, is a View of a modification of the device for lifting the paste roller and Figs. 18, 19, 20 and 21, are views of a preferred form of the mechanism for ap- A is the base of the machine onwhich are slideway A made up of four bars a in the pres ent'instancc. Arranged to slide in this slideway A is a carrier B having arms I), b which transfer the label from the label holder to a position above the wipers at a point where the label is placed upon the bottle. These arms are mounted so as to be adjusted towards and from each other and secured to In Fig. 4 the arms are shown ri idly secured to the carrier B, but they maybe made so as to yield, as shown in Fig. 19. In this View fixed arms I) extend from the carrier B and depending from the arms are bolts carrying at their lower ends plates b. On said bolts are springs 11 confined between the arms and lates respeotivelyso that said plates are cc to yield or move upwardly when ressure is exerted upon them from beneat v c is a bearing pro'ecting from the base-A and carrying a sha t G; on this shaft is a wheel 0.

B is a connecting rod pivoted at b to the carrier B and is slotted at b for the reception of the crank pin 0 of the wheel C so that there will be a certain amount of lost motion to allow the carrier to dwell at the point where the label is ap lied to the carrier and also where the label is applied to the bottle.

I) is the label holder consisting of a base (I with projecting rods (1 forming a cage for the labels. In the present instance the label holder has a depending hollow stem d mounted on a stud a projecting from the base A and mounted so as to slide on the stem (Z is a sleeve (1 having projecting pins (1 in the present instance, which are engaged by an arm 0 on a rock shaft E mounted in bearings a" projecting from the base A. 7

Between the sleeve (1 and the base plate (1 of the label holder D is a spring d so that .pin e.

when the sleeve is raised by the arm it will move the carrier up to such a position that the top label will bear against the arms I), b of the carrier and the spring will yield sufficientlv that the carrier 'will accommodate itself to the arms as the number of labels is dcu'cased or increased.

The construction of the mechanism between the arm 6 and the label holder may be modified as illustrated in Fig. 9, for instance, in which the arm (2 has a pin (2 which enters a slot in the stem and a slot a in the stud o The sprin d in this instance bears upon the There is suflicient lost motion to al ow the in to work freely in the slot.

The sliaft E has an arm e which bears upon the portion of the crank pinc which rojects on the rear side of the wheel C, as illustrated clearly in Figs. 1 and 2. A springe secured to a fixed' portion of the ma- The paste roller may be raised by the means all and to the arm 6 tends to keep the arm e normally raised, as indicated in Fig. 1.

F is the means for ap lying the label to the bottle and consists, as s own in Fi s. 1 and 3, of two arms f, f projecting the in 1 width of the'label'. Secured to each arm is a flexible wi or f made of rubber coated canvas or 0t ermaterial; the arms are spaced a sufiicient distanceapartto allow a bottle to be forced between the wipers. I

Between the label holder D and the label applying device is a paste roller G mounted in a paste pot G secured to the slideway AT in any suitable manner. The paste roller in the present instance ismade in two parts g, g, each part mounted'on a spindle g carried by a central stem g which passes through a stuflin box g in the bottom of the aste pot. The re are guided bythe end of t e spindle g extending into a groove 9 in the end of the paste pot. I.

. a. is a bracket de ending from the slideway A; ivoted to t is bracket is a lever H, one arm ofwhichextends under the stem g while pivoted to the other arm h of the lever is a tappet h. A spring It tends to keep the 'iiappet 1n the vertical position, as shown in 511 theslide B is a cam plate b; the rear of this cam plate is beveled on the underside as at b and the front of the cam late is beveled at the edge as shown at I)", Fig. 6, so that when the slide returns after delivering a label the cam plate, strikes the tappet h and depresses it as it is held from moving with the slide by a guide on the bracket a and as the tappet is depressed it causes the lever to force the aste rollers'g, gup into the path of the arms b of the carrier so that the underside of each arm will be coated with paste.

As soon as the slide passes the ta pet the rollers are returned to their norma position in the paste pot. When the slide again moves forward the begeled edge I) of the cam plate will force the tappet out a ainst the ressure of the spring h without e evating t e paste rollers. Thus the paste rollers are only raised on the return movement of the carrier shown in Fig. 17, a cam c mounted on the shaft 0 actuating a sliding rod 9 connected to one arm of a lever g? pivoted at g and connected at the opposite end to a rod g carrying the paste ro er G, the cam being so timed as to raise'the roll at the proper time.

The wheel C is driven by a friction wlfeelt mounted on a driving shaft I having a belt ulley i. The wheel 0' is weighted-at c and as a stop projection c which comes in contact with a pawl k which is pivotedto the frame at k. The arm' k of this pawl is held in place by a s ring k, the arm rejecting into the path-0 the bottle, as in 'cated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, so that when the bottle is passed between the wipers f it will act upon the pawl and cause it to be withdrawn from the wheel C and the weight being eleyated on the pawl side of the wheel it will cause the wheel to turn in the proper direc-' tion as soon as the pawl is withdrawn; lpreferably make a depression in the surface of the wheel at 0 so as to reduce the frictionwhen the wheel is prevented from. rotating by the pawl 7c. Thus the slide returns and has a certain amount of dwell owing to the lost motion in the connecting rod B to allow the label to be placed upon the arms of the 1 carrier and has a dwell at the forward end of its stroke determined upon the length of time required for theoperator to pick up a bottle and pass it between the wipers.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The labels are to be placed'upon the body or: the bottle and as near thesame position on each bottle as possible. The labels are packed in the holder D, the arms are made adjustable so as to conform to the size of the label. The machine is set in motion, and if the carrier is on its return movement,' it passes the paste 0t, the rollers having been raised so as to p ace paste on the underside of the arms. These arms, when they are over the label holder; are allowed to remain for a certain length of time by the lost motion in the connecting rod B and during this time the label holder is raised so as to force a label against the arms and on its return all the labels except the one in contact with the arms will remain in the holder. Then the silde B moves forward carrying the label with it, passing the paste potfthe rollers in the ,paste pot remaining in the normal position and when the carrier. is directly above the means for applying the label the mechanism is stopped by the pawllc engaging the Wheel C. The operator then takes a bottle by the neck and passes it between the wipers f, f. ,as'shown in Figs. 7 and 8; the first movement applies the label to the bottle and removes the label from, the arms I), b of the carrier, and as the bottle is forced down the label is spread upon the surface of the bottle by the flexible Wipersf, as shown in Fig. 8.

In Figs. 18 to 21, inclusive, I have shown a preferred form of the mechanism for applying the label to the bottle. The device F consists of two plates or pads f pivoted to rods f and are held in their normal position by springs a, u; the rods f are carried by p ates pivoted. to rods f rigidly secured to the frame; s rings a, a hold the rods f in their norma position. When the bottle is forced between the pads they turn and conform to the bottle spreading the label neatly upon the bottle. acts upon the arm 76 of the pawl k and releases the wheel C from the control of the pawl, and the mechanism is again set in motion, the carrier returning to receive another label, passing the paste pot where its arms As the bottle descends it tion of the label.

in Figs. 10, 11 and 12, an attachment which receive another coating of paste and another.

"label is forced up into contact with the arms mstances, or any suitable shock absorber may be used, if desired. In many instances it is only necessary to paste the two edges of a label when it is desired to quickly remove the labels, especially in bottles which are to be returned. to be refilled, but where the labels are to be permanent it is preferable to provide a machine for pasting the greater por- Therefore, I have shown can be used in connection with my improved machine. This attachment consists of a plate P which can be either made solid or preferably forked at eachside, as shown in Fig. 12. This plate is hung by a link p from a curved arm p pivoted at p to the slideway A. The other arm p of the lever is connected to a spring tappet p and this tappet is actuated y an arm g on the shaft E. Mounted on the rear arm I; of the carrier B is a paste ot 8 having a pasting roller 8 which supp iespaste to the underside of the plate P. The paste is applied to the underside of'the arm 11, b in the manner described above. By this construction on the return movement of the carrier B the arms I), b receive paste from the roller G and as the arms pass under the plate P a coating of paste is' applied to the underside of the plate,

and as the label holder is raised by its arm so that a label will come in contact with the arms I), b the plate is depressed so as to transfer the paste onto the body of the label, the plate is then withdrawn and the carrier with the label attached transferred to the position above the wipers f In Figs. 13 and 14 I have shown my improved device arranged to apply a label not only to the body of the bottle but also to the neck thereof. In this instance I make a small duplicate D ofthe label holder D and use an additional arm e on the rock shaft E.

The arms I), b of the carrier B are extended diamond s aped labe are used the arms If The above described mechanism 1's cape-f cially desi ned for s uare labels and where may have V-shaped projections to, 'u, as indicated in Fig. 15, and the label holder may be diamond shaped to fit the labels.

' In Fig. 16, I have shown semi-circular projections u for picking up round labels and the label holders have round openings in this instance to receive thecircular labels,

I claim 1. The combination in .a bottle labeling machine of a label holder, a pasting roller, and a wiper for applying the'label to the bottle, a carrier having arms for holding the label, a cam for actuating the pasting roller, means for raising the label holder, and means for temporarily stopping said parts of the machine, while the label is beingapplied to the bottle, with means for automatically starting .the machine after such temporary stoppage, substantially as described.

2. The combination in a bottle labeling machine, of a label holder, a paster, and a wiper for'applying the label, a carrier having arms, a driving wheel, a connecting rod coupling the driving wheel to the carrier, means for driving the wheel by friction, and releasable means for positively holding said wheel from moving against the action of said frictional driving means, substantially means for driving the wheel by friction, a.

device for holding the wheel from turning, and means whereby a bottle in process of receiving-a label is caused to release said device, substantially as described.

4. ,The combination of a label holder, a paste pot, a wiper for applying the label, a carrier having label holdlng arms, a slideway upon which, the carrier is mounted, means for reciprocating the carrier, a past-- ingroller mounted in the paste pot, and means actuated. by the carrier for periodically raising the roller, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a label holder, a paste pot, a wiper,.a slideway, a'carrier mounted on the slideway having arms to receive the label, a roller mounted in the paste pot to place paste upon the arms of the car.-

rocating the carrier, a rock shaft having two arms, one of said arms projecting under the label holder, a spring between the arm and theflabel holder, a rotating member, a pin thereon, the other arm of the rock shaft extending into the path of the pin so as tobe engaged thereby to raise the label holder, with. means for temporarily holding the rotating member from moving afterjeach revolution thereof, substantiallyyas described.

7. The combination in a label pasting ma chine, of a slideway, a carrier mounted on said slideway, arms on the carrier, a driving wheel, a crank pin on the driving wheel, a connecting rod attached to the carrier and slotted at its opposite end, the pin on the driving wheel passing through the slot, a detent pawl carried bythe frame of the machine andextending into the path of the bottle, said detent, awlengaging the driving wheel and hol ing it until the bottle releases the pawl as it 18 passed through the label applying device,.substantially as described.

8. The combination 'in a. label pasting y machine, of a slideway, a reci rocating carrier mounted thereon, a la el holder, a

paster, a label applying device, a rotating wheel, a connecting rod connecting the wheel with the carrier, a detent for locking the wheel in a given position, said wheel being weighted at one side, and a friction wheel bearing a ainst the said wheel, whereby the weig lted wheel is driven by friction, substantially as described.

9. The combination of a 'slideway, a car rier mounted so as'to reciprocate in the slide way, arms on the carrier, means for adjusting said arms, a label holder, a rockshaft having two arms, a sleeve mounted on the label holder and engaged by one of the arms, a spring between thesleeve and the base plate of the label holder, a driving wheel, a pin on the driving wheel arranged to rock the said shaft to raise the label holder, a paste pot, mechanism actuated by the carrier for raising the pasting roller, wipers, -means for stopping the mechanism when the carrier is scribed. I

13. The combination in a bottle labeling. machine of a carrier, a label holder, a pastor above the wipers, and a device for releasing the mechanism as the bottle is forced between the wipers, substantially as described.

10. The combination in a bottle labeling machine, of a double label holder, a paster, means for applying the labels to a bottle, a guideway, a carrier having arms for carrying a large label and provided with extensions arranged to convey asmaller label, and means for reciprocating said carrier on said .guideway, substantially as described.

11. .The combination in a bottle labeling machine, of a carrier, arms extending from the carrier, plates yieldingly supported from the arms with a label holder, paster and applier, substantially as describe 12. The combination in a bottle labeling machine, of a slideway, a carrier arranged to reciprocate therein, arms for carrying the label, a label holder, a pasting device, means for applying the label to the bottle, a paste pot secured to one of the arms of the carrier,

a pasting plate mounted above the label holder, and means for actuating the plate so that the plate will receive paste from the pasting roller mounted on the' carrier while the arms of the carrier will receive aste from the-stationary paster, substantia 1y as deand means for applying a label to a bottle consisting of two pads, rods supporting the pads, and springs so arranged that when a bottle is forced between the pads they will yield and conform to the shape of the bottle, substantially as described.

'In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. GEORGE A. HOFFMAN.

Witnesses WILL. A. BARR, Jos. H. KLEIN. 

